Newcastle's History Set to Shine Again
The Victoria Theatre on Perkins Street Newcastle is the oldest theatre building that is still standing in New South Wales. Originally built on the site in 1876, it was rebuilt in 1891 after a number of prominent businessmen created a syndicate to purchase the theatre building and establish a first-class theatre in Newcastle. Today, this historically significant site continues to attract the passion and commitment of a similar group of individuals who work tirelessly to ensure the future of the building for not just Newcastle but the country and our culture.
Representing 132 years of Novocastrian history, The Victoria Theatre has been home to vaudeville, opera, acrobats, concerts, boxing matches, early legitimate theatre, silent films and cinema, not to mention various retail incarnations since it closed as a theatre/cinema in 1966.
The 1890 rebuild was designed by architect James Henderson. It was an elaborately furnished three-level auditorium in a Grecian theme, including a large stage house and a small first-class hotel. In 1897 the theatre was the location for major celebrations of Her Majesty Queen Victoria's Record Reign, with the exterior of the theatre being brilliantly illuminated with a transparency of Her Majesty – proving that today’s Vivid is nothing new!
The early 1900s saw the theatre flourish with all sorts of weird and wonderful entertainments as well as a slight upgrade with redecoration and extra dressing rooms. The stage saw live horses and sheep in The Squatter’s Daughter, and the legendary Les Darcy and Bob Whitelaw spent eight hours in the Great Glove Contest Boxing match with 20 brutal rounds in 1913. There is even a story about a lion escaping from one of the shows and wandering down Perkins Street, heading to the Crown and Anchor before it was recaptured.
In 1921 the theatre saw another major internal refurbishment making it suitable to use as a cinema. It was redecorated by artist Norman Carter with painted Grecian murals of dancing nymphs on the proscenium arch. Live theatre shows continued to be presented at the theatre and included opera, Gilbert and Sullivan, ice skating shows, symphony orchestras, Ziegfield Follies from America, and all the greats of the time. Hoyts took control of the theatre in 1942, and CinemaScope was installed around 1955. Cinema was an extremely popular form of cheap entertainment during this ‘golden age of Hollywood’ period, and the theatre was a place of first dates, family memories, and fun with friends. It closed in 1966, and by 1967 it was home to Eastham’s Theatre Store – a fashion retail outlet. Over the next 30-odd years, it was altered slightly to fit its new purpose, with much of its faded glory hiding behind the retail façade.
In 2015 the owners of the building, the Laundy Hotel Group, put the site up for auction. A local community group, 'Revive the Vic', was founded and attracted 1000+ members, all committed to preserving the Victoria Theatre, creating awareness of what Newcastle stood to lose if the site was purchased by a developer less sympathetic to its history. Enter Century, the team behind Sydney’s Enmore Theatre, Chatswood Concourse Theatre, The Metro and more. Century purchased the site with every intention of returning it to its original purpose.
“Our country’s old theatre buildings get snapped up by developers because they are large buildings that can be repurposed,” said Greg Khoury, Executive Director of Century.
“Generally, they can satisfy the heritage requirements through clever design, but we lose so much in the process. It’s an issue the whole industry faces. The best way to preserve these beautiful theatre buildings is to return them to their original purpose, which is our intent.”
From 2016 to 2018, Century spent $800,000 on clearing the site and formulating the development application. In 2020, history repeated itself when a group of local business people formed the Founding Ambassadors, ten leaders from across the Hunter and the live performance industry who committed significant financial resources to enable an advocacy campaign to aid in securing funding. In 2022 this resulted in a $4 million grant awarded through the Create NSW Creative Capital Fund. Like their 19th-century counterparts, the ambassadors believed Newcastle deserved a venue like the Victoria Theatre.
“I grew up in Newcastle, and I’m proud of our city; I think it’s the best place in the world,” said Marty Adnum, Founder and Managing Director of Out of the Square Media (OOTS) and one of the ten Founding Ambassadors.
“The future of our city is in our arts and smarts – we have a rich arts and live entertainment industry that we need to support and celebrate, as well as preserve our heritage. Revitalising the Victoria Theatre will create a perfect complement to the Civic Playhouse and the Civic Theatre in terms of seating capacity and location. The Victoria Theatre will seat around 800, whereas the Playhouse is 180 and the Civic around 1500. Venues of this size are sorely needed in the city – perfect for local theatre and music.”
As part of the awareness campaign, OOTS, Century and Gavin Patton of Regional Heritage Planning created an oral history series titled Remembered & Revisited that has recently won a prestigious National Trust Australia Heritage
Award. The series sympathetically conveys the heartfelt stories of those who had worked there or had a connection with The Vic throughout the years.
“We put the call out for people who had some connection to the theatre and were blown away by the response,” said Marty. “Winning the award for this video series is thrilling news for all involved. Not least the beautiful people
who came forward to tell their stories. From usherettes to performers, projectionists to lolly boys and even those who had their very first date there. It was a privilege to produce and then donate this series. It was emotional, joyful and beautiful to hear their stories.” To see the stories go to www.victoriatheatre.com.au
Gavin Patton from Regional Heritage Planning was chuffed with the win, saying, “You can achieve amazing things when the right people come together over a shared passion. We’ll continue to collect content as the work on the theatre continues as well. The stage area, the fly tower and the proscenium arch are all intact from the 1890s, and I’m hopeful that those dancing nymphs added to the proscenium arch in 1921 are still hidden under the layers of paint. It’s such an exciting project to be involved with.”
According to Greg Khoury from Century, we won’t have much longer to wait until we can all enjoy this significant part of Newcastle’s theatre history.
“We’re confident we can be open within 18 to 20 months from now,” said Greg.
“There’s actually not a lot to be built. We’re working with architects Scott Carver and are currently recosting with a view to reopening the entire theatre, not just the stalls. The aim is to make it as functionally practicable as possible. This is not a restoration – that would be cost-prohibitive. It is a revitalisation or conservation, stripping back the layers to reveal the origins of the building, then making it functional for its contemporary purpose – leaving the historical context exposed to be appreciated and enjoyed. We’re arresting the decay, making it safe, and adding modern amenities and functionality. It will be a lovely juxtaposition against the regal splendour of the Civic Theatre and ideal as a music venue.”
For decades, our city’s history has been there for us all to see, but we rarely look up at the architectural facades of our beautiful buildings. We can all thank groups such as Revive the Vic and the Founding Ambassadors for their passion and commitment to raising awareness of all we stood to lose. It will be an exciting time in Newcastle’s history when the first opening night of the Victoria Theatre in more than 60 years takes place. See you there!
